Posted at 1:26 a.m., Thursday, August 2, 2007
NFL: Man pleads guilty to stealing Payton's rings
Associated Press
ST. CHARLES, Ill. — A man has pleaded guilty to stealing a replica Super Bowl ring and a Hall of Fame ring that belonged to former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton.James Graham, 31, was sentenced to 30 months of probation after pleading guilty yesterday to theft and unrelated charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and to a probation violation, according to the Kane County state's attorney's office.
The rings, valued at $4,100, were stolen in March 2006 from a display case at Walter Payton's Roundhouse Complex in downtown Aurora. Payton, who died of cancer in 1999, received one ring when he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. The other was a replica of his 1986 Super Bowl championship ring.
Police later recovered them from a pawn shop, where two men, including Graham, had sold the rings for $165, authorities said. Police were notified of the rings' whereabouts by a pawn shop employee who had seen news reports about the theft.
